On Friday morning, June 30, The Cloud Foundation (TCF) received an anonymous tip that Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and/or top Bureau of Land Management (BLM) officials have ordered all wild horses currently in short-term holding facilities be categorized by weight and age in anticipation of the approval of the federal budget. The current recommendation for this budget would allow for “sale without limitation” of many or most of the wild horses currently in holding.

This, of course, could eventually lead to the barbaric slaughter of our iconic wild horses. The tipster stated that this categorization was to ensure the BLM was ready to “ship out” horses older than five years of age. The only place to “ship out” these horses would likely be to slaughter. The caller stated that the shipping would start with the smaller facilities so that wild horse advocates would not be able to impose an injunction before the plan was already started. The caller also told TCF that direction has been given to one of the government’s top transportation officials to prepare for shipping.

Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director of TCF said, “Surely Secretary Zinke would not allow for this devious, clandestine and under-the-radar ploy to destroy wild horses when 80% of Americans are against horse slaughter. If only Secretary Zinke and other DOI and BLM officials would have implemented tried and proven on-the-range-management ideas as we have requested for over a decade, we would not be where we are today.” Ms. Kathrens states, “Options such repatriation of older horses in holding to the millions of acres that were designated ranges for these animals is a much more human solution.”

“There are nearly 50,000 wild horses that have been rounded up, torn apart from their families, and corralled at the taxpayer expense because on-the-range-management has not been implemented. Hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep graze at little or no cost,” says Lisa Friday, volunteer Vice President of The Cloud Foundation. “Our indigenous American icons deserve better.”

As I previously wrote, at the time, Rucki not only hired Tannick but also maintained his longstanding attorney, Lisa Elliott, all while claiming in court he was on public assistance when arguing for child support.”

The blogger in the Rucki case previously accused of jury tampering is now being accused of witness tampering in a new appeal.

Dede Evavold filed a new appeal in which, among other legal issues, she argued that Michael Brodkorb engaged in a campaign to intimidate her.

Evavold was convicted for her role in hiding Samantha and Gianna Rucki, along with their mother, Sandra Grazzini-Rucki and Doug and Gina Dahlen.

The two Rucki girls ran away from home on April 19, 2013 and were found in November 2015.

The complaint stems from two incidents.

In one incident, Brodkorb called Evavold in September 2015 and surreptitiously recorded the conversation which he then shared with David Rucki who sent it to the Lakeville Police Department.

“On 062216 at 1430 hours I received an email from David Rucki containing an audio recording. I spoke with David on the phone and he explained to me that the recording was a conversation that Michael Brodkorb recorded between himself (Brodkorb) and Dede Evavold,” the police report from the Lakeville Police Department stated.

Brodkorb was working at a blog hosted by the Minneapolis Star Tribune at the time. Emails to Suki Dardarian and Terry Sauer, two editors at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, were both left unreturned.

Brodkorb called any allegations of witness tampering false: “all bogus. Their accusations are as credible as your reporting.”

Brodkorb, after the article was published, had previously challenged the accuracy of a report that he approached at least one juror while Sandra Grazzini-Rucki’s trial was ongoing.